Egypt Revolution 2011: A Complete Guide To The Unrest | The Huffington Post Egypt Revolution 2011: A Complete Guide To The Unrest 01/30/2011 07:21 pm ET | Updated May 25, 2011 5k Craig Kanalley Senior Editor, Big News & Live Events, The Huffington Post Having trouble digesting the Egypt revolution? Not sure about the latest events and why they matter? Or just curious to learn more about Egypt in general? You've come to the right place. The Huffington Post is aggregating our comprehensive coverage into easily-digestible nuggets below to help those who feel overwhelmed. This page is 100% human-curated. It will be fluid and changing as major developments happen, so please keep checking back. And please share it with your friends, family and colleagues. You can find our latest live blog here and get all the context you need below! Have a tip to share? Call 00-1-315-636-0962 or email us at egypt@huffingtonpost.com. THE BASICS What's Going On In Egypt?

: Protests started on Tuesday, January 25, when -- inspired by the successful revolution in Tunisia -- thousands began taking to the streets to protest poverty, rampant unemployment, government corruption and autocratic governance of President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled the country for 30 years. These were the first protests on such a large scale in Egypt since the 1970s. Read more here. Why Egypt Matters : Why is the story gaining traction? There are a number of factors that make Egypt's unrest important, in both that country, the Middle East, and the world. Click here to see the top reasons why Egypt should matter to you. What It's Being Called : The Egyptian revolution is also referred to as the Egyptian Protests, Days of Rage, the Papyrus Revolution and the Lotus Revolution. Quick Facts About Egypt : Established in 3100 B.C., Egypt today has a population of approximately 79 million. Its people speak Arabic and 99% are Egyptian. The country staged its first modern revolution in 1919 and established independence in 1922.

Continued instability due to remaining British influence led to a second revolution in 1952 and the creation of the Egyptian Republic in 1953. TIMELINE OF KEY DEVELOPMENTS The rise and rapid fall of Egypt's Mohamed Morsy - CNN.com The rise and rapid fall of Egypt's Mohamed Morsy By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN updated 5:19 AM EDT, Thu July 4, 2013 STORY HIGHLIGHTS Mohamed Morsy is pushed from office by Egypt's military and is reportedly detained Morsy, of the Muslim Brotherhood, was Egypt's first freely elected president Morsy inherited a poor economy and corrupt bureaucracy, analysts say The U.S.-educated Islamist lacks charisma and wasn't an inclusive leader, they say Editor's note: Have you witnessed the protests in Egypt? Send us your images and video, but stay safe. (CNN) -- Mohamed Morsy , Egypt's first democratically elected president, has been ousted from office just over a year into his presidency. Deposed by the military and reportedly held under house arrest, Morsy's fall from power has been nothing if not rapid.

Egypt's powerful military stepped in July 3, hours after a deadline the generals had set for Morsy to order reforms expired. The military's intervention followed days of opposition protests, during which hundreds of thousands of people massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square and elsewhere to demand that he step down and call fresh presidential elections, or face a campaign of civil disobedience. Military stance pleases anti-Morsy camp Egypt on the brink of a volcano? Is pro-Morsy, opposition clash imminent? The news of Morsy's downfall prompted further mass street demonstrations, with both his opponents and his supporters turning out to celebrate, or protest, his ouster. Egypt's military gives Morsy ultimatum Protests turn deadly as deadline looms for Morsy Morsy, who is backed by the Muslim Brotherhood , Egypt's oldest and best-organized political movement, insists he remains the country's legitimate leader. As the deadline neared, he offered to form an interim coalition government to oversee parliamentary elections and revise the constitution that was enacted in January. But Egypt's top military officer, Gen.

Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi, said he "did not achieve the goals of the people" and had failed to meet the generals' demands that he share power with his opposition. So where did it all go wrong? A strict Islamist educated in southern California, Morsy was elected Egypt's president in June 2012 after a campaign focused on appealing to the broadest possible audience. But critics say he became increasingly authoritarian and forced through a conservative agenda during his year in power. He is also blamed for failing to revive Egypt's economy, which crashed when the 2011 uprising, which toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak , drove tourists away. That led many of his supporters among Egypt's poor and middle class to become disaffected, said Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics, speaking before Morsy fell. "That some of the revolutionaries are calling on the army to return to politics is a testament to how polarized Egypt is a year after the election of Morsy," Gerges said. "Think of the millions of people who cheered Morsy after his election. Think of the millions of Egyptians who pinned their hopes on Morsy.

Opinion: Give Morsy a chance to fix this Eric Trager, writing for the New Republic, described an anti-Muslim Brotherhood backlash that is the "product of mounting popular frustrations regarding the organization's failed governance of Egypt" during Morsy's year in office. Among the causes for complaint are lack of security, rising food prices, long fuel lines, and frequent electricity cuts during the scorching Egyptian summer, Trager said, all of which foster widespread anti-Brotherhood rage. "The Brotherhood, however, is in complete denial of this. Brotherhood leaders and members contend that Morsi has been a mostly successful president," he said. Huge challenges For Omar Ashour, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Doha Center and senior lecturer at Exeter University, Morsy faced an almost impossible challenge from the start. Inexperienced in campaigning, he and his rivals made a raft of "wild promises" that raised expectations very high, and Morsy could not deliver on them once elected with just over half the vote, Ashour said. He inherited a huge public debt and a legacy of 30 years of corruption under President Hosni Mubarak. Dissatisfaction with economic conditions in the country was already high.

Egypt unrest pushes oil prices near $100 On taking office, he also experienced very strong resistance from a number within the state institutions, many of them Mubarak loyalists. The majority of those who backed him in the election are still behind him, Ashour said. But some, including those who voted for Morsy only because the alternative was to see Mubarak's former prime minister elected, have now joined the ranks of those lined up against him. Those opposed to Morsy include the Mubarak loyalists who seek a return to power; the Salvation Front, a broad coalition of opposition groups; the youth groups who are disenchanted not to see major change after a year; and the average citizen unaffiliated with any group but frustrated by rising costs. Uncharismatic, not inclusive Morsy's personal style has contributed to his current predicament, Ashour said. He lacks charisma and oratorical skills, and at the same time he hasn't been able to back his orders with a stick in the same way that Mubarak and his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, did, he said.

Although the country's deficit has fallen and tourism revenue has slightly improved over the past year, the effects are not being felt by the man and woman on the street, Ashour said, so Morsy has not benefited. Before his election, there were concerns in some quarters that Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood would seek to introduce a fundamentalist Islamic theocracy. What is the Muslim Brotherhood? But Ashour rejects the idea that the discontent is ideologically motivated, saying it is in fact a "pragmatic" power struggle between those who won the democratic election and those who lost, as well as those who feel they lost out in Egypt's 2011 revolution. Shadi Hamid, director of research for the Brookings Doha Center, said "a long list of mistakes" had added to Morsy's unpopularity. "He didn't do enough to build consensus among Egypt's very fractious forces and he had a style of government that wasn't inclusive," he told CNN. But Hamid also highlighted the structural problems Morsy faced.

"Anyone who was going to be president right now was going to deal with a deteriorating economy and a rotten, corrupt bureaucracy, many of whom are hostile to President Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood," he said. One example of that is the security sector, where a big chunk of the Interior Ministry didn't support him and then protested against him, he said. "Part of it is Morsy's fault. But we can't lose sight of the bigger perspective, that Egypt is a very unwieldy country to govern and no one would have been able to make real improvements in the course of just one year." Troubled times After assuming office in June last year, Morsy took a number of steps that proved unpopular with certain sectors of Egyptian society. In August, the president moved against the military leadership, sending into retirement Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, who, as chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, had acted the country's de facto ruler in the wake of Mubarak's ouster and prior to Morsy's election. A few months later, in November, he issued an edict declaring his decisions immune from judicial review until the holding of the constitutional referendum.

He also sacked the head of the judiciary, many of whose members had remained loyal to Mubarak. The opposition saw the moves as a grab for dictatorial powers and poured into the streets, converting Tahrir Square in central Cairo back into the center of public discontent it had been during the uprising that brought down Mubarak In response, Morsy dropped his decree, but the situation remained tense. His supporters were accused of beating and detaining opposition protesters during deadly clashes near the presidential palace in Cairo in early December. After a referendum in which more than 60% approved the new constitution, Morsy signed it into law in late December. Critics argued it was passed too quickly, with liberals, Christians and other minority opposition groups saying they felt excluded from the Constituent Assembly that drafted it. Supporters hailed what they said was its protection of personal rights. The international rights group Human Rights Watch said the constitution "protects some rights but undermines others," and that it "fails to end military trials of civilians or to protect freedom of expression and religion." At the beginning of last month, the upper house and legislative power of parliament, the Shura Council, was invalidated by the country's highest court.

Once a lower house is elected -- to replace the democratically elected parliament dissolved by the court last year -- the Islamist-dominated Shura Council will be dissolved. New parliamentary elections are due later this year but Morsy has not yet set a date. Central player Morsy served as a central behind-the-scenes player for much of the decade before his election to the presidency, analysts say. His official biography on the website of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party website describes him as "one of the most prominent political leadership figures of the Brotherhood, the organization that led the struggle against the ousted repressive regime in its last decade." He led the Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc from 2000 to 2005 in addition to serving as president of the Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering at Zagazig University. Morsy was arrested several times under Mubarak's regime "due to his constantly firm stance against the repressive measures and oppressive practices of the overthrown regime," the party said. At one point, he spent seven months in jail.

Morsy told CNN's Christiane Amanpour during the election campaign that his party sought "an executive branch that represents the people's true will and implements their public interests." He also said he would support democracy, women's rights and peaceful relations with Israel if he won. He added, "There is no such thing called an Islamic democracy. There is democracy only. ... The people are the source of authority." CNN's Josh Levs contributed to this report. Part of complete coverage on Egypt Egypt President Asks For Patience Over Power Cuts Egypt President Asks For Patience Over Power Cuts World | Associated Press | Updated: September 06, 2014 23:51 IST EMAIL COMMENTS Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi Cairo, Egypt: In a nationally televised speech on Saturday, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi asked the public to be patient and grasp the extent of the challenges facing the country following a massive power outage that struck the capital and other cities. The hours-long power outage on Thursday, which halted the Cairo subway and knocked TV stations off the air, was a huge embarrassment for the government, and officials struggled to offer a coherent explanation to an angry public.

The failure of el-Sissi's predecessor, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, to address regular small-scale power outages contributed to the public anger that built up during his year in power and culminated in massive protests demanding his ouster. El-Sissi, who was military chief at the time, removed Morsi from office in July 2013. Less than a year later, el-Sissi ran for office, winning by a landslide and promising to restore law and order and improve daily life after three years of turmoil following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Authorities have meanwhile cracked down hard on Morsi's supporters since his ouster and imprisonment, detaining and sending thousands of people to trial, killing hundreds in street clashes and effectively banning most public demonstrations through a draconian protest law. In the latest case against Morsi, Egypt's top prosecutor said Saturday that the Islamist president, with help from two of his assistants, leaked classified state security documents to Qatar as popular opposition to him rose.

The prosecutor said in a statement that Morsi and 10 others will be tried before a criminal court in what it described as "the biggest treason and espionage case in the country's history." The leaked documents included intelligence on military deployments and armaments, as well as domestic and foreign policies. The statement said Morsi's assistants leaked the documents with the help of journalists from the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera channel to a Qatari intelligence official in exchange for $1 million. Morsi is already facing three trials, including on charges of cooperating with foreign militant groups. He faces a possible death penalty. Egypt has accused Doha of backing Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group, which Cairo declared a terrorist organization late last year. The Brotherhood denies it is behind a rising wave of violence since Morsi's ouster that has mainly targeted police and the military. Radical groups have claimed the attacks, saying they are avenging the death and jailing of protesters. Egypt's security woes are compounded by an economy that is reeling from three years of unrest and decades of mismanagement. El-Sissi ran on a ticket focusing on economic improvement.

On Saturday, he formed a new presidential advisory body of economic and science experts to advise him on how to tackle the country's myriad of problems. The 16-member council includes at least four prominent Egyptian-US dual citizens, such as Nobel Prize winning chemist Ahmed Zewail and economist and former CEO of global investment firm PIMCO, Mohamed el-Erian. The council's formation comes after complaints in the media that three months into office, el-Sissi has yet to formally declare who advises him on policy and planning. Mostly western educated professionals, the group includes one woman and at least five Christians, and according to el-Sissi's decree they will work without remuneration. They are mostly in their 60s and 70s. In his half-hour speech Saturday, el-Sissi said his government is working to eradicate the threat of terrorism, but he focused his "heart-to-heart" on Thursday's power outage, which he said was the most severe blackout in the country since the 1990s. The Thursday outage halted the capital's subway, disrupted airport operations, took TV stations off the air and left entire cities without electricity for hours.

El-Sissi said it was largely due to crumbling infrastructure that needs billions of dollars and time to fix. He estimated the country needs about $12 billion over five years to upgrade and build new power plants to meet increasing demand, adding that he is already reaching out to investors. "Why am I telling you this?" el-Sissi said, speaking off the cuff from his office in colloquial Arabic. "We must know this is not going to happen overnight." El-Sissi said he understood the public's frustration but begged for patience. He said he wants to engage the public so as not to be taken to task in a year's time for lack of results. "I am talking now to remind myself and to remind each other that we said we had many problems, and we said we will treat them together," he said. "Please be patient. You must be sure that we will overcome all this but not in a month or two or three." El-Sissi said saboteurs were partially to blame for some of the recurrent power cuts, saying they aim to "stir the public's anger." Government officials have accused Morsi supporters of aggravating the power crisis through loyalists in the electricity sector.

El-Sissi said an investigation into Thursday's mass outage is underway and the results will be made public. "We will hide nothing from you," he said. "We are confronting many things. We are fighting an existential battle." The power cut prompted calls for Electricity Minister Mohammed Shaker to resign, while some media reports accused him of being a member of the Brotherhood. Shaker denied the allegations. Mubarak's refusal to step down enrages protesters - CNN.com Mubarak's refusal to step down enrages protesters By the CNN Wire Staff STORY HIGHLIGHTS More demonstrations are expected Friday President Obama says Mubarak's speech falls short of what is needed Protesters rally in Tahrir Square, near presidential palace and outside state TV building Mubarak delegates powers to the vice president RELATED TOPICS Tahrir Square Editor's Note: Follow live blogging on "This Just In" and the latest tweets from CNN correspondents from the protests. Send your video, images to CNN iReport. Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Protesters in Egypt, rowdy with revolutionary fervor, dug in for an 18th day of demonstrations Friday, one day after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused to step down.

In a highly anticipated speech, Mubarak clung to the presidency but said he would "delegate powers" to Vice President Omar Suleiman according to the constitution -- a major concession from the man who has ruled Egypt with an iron grip for 30 years. His speech, however, enraged protesters in Tahrir Square, who want Mubarak to leave now. Packed in like sardines and showing no sign of giving up, many said they were spending the night in the square for the first time since the protests began. The mood of the crowd was relentlessly upbeat, even at 3 a.m.. A splinter group of demonstrators marched to the presidential palace, where the military maintains a strong presence. Another group rallied in front of a state television building. Massive street demonstrations are expected on Friday. Hosni Mubarak: I am not leaving Egypt Protesters: Mubarak's move not enough Obama: Moment of transformation in Egypt Hosni Mubarak: In his words "Get out! Get out!" angry protesters chanted as Mubarak spoke.

After the the president's speech,parliamentary speaker Ahmed Fathi Srour told state-run Nile TV that Mubarak's move had put the authority for the day-to-day running of the government in Suleiman's hands. That would include oversight of the police, the Interior Ministry and other key agencies, control of economic policy and running any negotiations with the opposition. Srour echoed Mubarak's statement in adding that the constitution specifically prohibits the president from delegating other key powers to the vice president. As a result, the power to dismiss parliament or dismiss the government and the power to ask for amendments to the constitution remain in Mubarak's hands, not Suleiman's. "The vice president is the de facto president," Egypt's ambassador to the United States, Sameh Shoukry, told CNN, shortly after Mubarak spoke. Protesters watched Mubarak's speech on screens hoisted above their heads in Tahrir Square. Quiet at first, they waited to hear what he would say. When it became clear the president would not stand down, they erupted. "Illegitimate!" they cried.

"Mubarak, the coward, must stand down!" "Everyone's lost," Khalid Abdalla, a demonstrator in the square and star of the motion picture "The Kite Runner," said after the president's speech. "People are trying to work out what more they can do." Mubarak stressed -- as he has before -- that he would not run for another term in September. He also expressed regret for any loss of life and said he would move to repeal Article 179 of the Egyptian constitution, which allows Mubarak to send anyone suspected of terrorism to a military court, "as soon as we regain stability and security." His comments came as pressure on Mubarak's regime intensified throughout the day. Rumors had run rampant before he spoke that Mubarak was planning to step down. Many also had predicted he would deputize Suleiman, the former intelligence chief, to take control. For that to happen under the current constitution, Mubarak must retain the title of president -- as he did. Suleiman addressed the nation soon after Mubarak, urging Egyptians to remain calm and go back to work.

He said he was committed to doing "whatever it takes in order to have an orderly transition of powers in accordance with the provisions of the constitution." "Go back to your houses. Go back to your work. The homeland needs your work," Suleiman said. Mubarak's refusal to step down caught the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama off guard, a senior U.S. official told CNN. "Not what we were told would happen and not what we wanted to happen," the official, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity, said of the speech. Obama released a statement late Thursday, calling on the Egyptian government to do more. "The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient," he said. "Too many Egyptians remain unconvinced that the government is serious about a genuine transition to democracy, and it is the responsibility of the government to speak clearly to the Egyptian people and the world." The mass demonstrations, despite stern government warnings of military intervention, were relentless Thursday, and thousands of workers in vital industries walked off their jobs in a show of solidarity with demonstrators demanding change.

In their strongest maneuver yet, the military's senior officers Thursday issued "Communique No. 1," as if more were forthcoming, stating that their discussions were ongoing on "what can be achieved to preserve the homeland and the gains of the Egyptian people." The military remained out in force throughout the day, and many believe Egypt's future hinges on the role it will play. "Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now," Mohamed ElBaradei, an opposition leader, posted on his Twitter page soon after Mubarak spoke. Similarly, Yaser Fathi, one of the organizers of protests in Alexandria, said the military must intervene and push to get Mubarak out. "Everyone in Egypt is disappointed ... We were hoping that it was almost over, but we will continue until the whole regime gets toppled," he said. Exactly what role the military will play, however, remained unclear. "This now creates a massive crisis for the Egyptian military," analysts with Stratfor global intelligence company said in a statement, soon after Mubarak's speech. "As dawn breaks over Cairo, it is likely that large numbers of others will join the demonstrators and that the crowd might begin to move.

The military would then be forced to stand back and let events go where they go, or fire on the demonstrators," the analysts said. Earlier Thursday, protesting lawyers toppled barricades near Abdeen Palace, the former home of Egypt's monarchy and a symbol of power. Armed police, who had disappeared from the streets of Cairo as the uprising gained momentum, waited behind metal fences. But the police fled and the crowd surged amid the roar of thunder on a rainy day. "God is great," they chanted. Unable to enter the palace, which was under heavy army protection, the group of lawyers headed to Tahrir Square, where massive crowds again gathered to call for the immediate departure of Mubarak. The demonstrations were galvanized earlier in the week by the words and tears of freed cyberactivist Wael Ghonim, who emerged as a reluctant hero of Egypt's uprising. Ghonim, on leave from his marketing job with the search engine Google in Dubai, was seized by security forces and held for 10 days before being released. He is credited with starting a Facebook page that triggered the protests. Mubarak's foes were re-energized again Thursday by strikes called by petroleum, railway and telecommunications employees seeking better compensation.

Oil workers demanded transparency in executive salaries, said Hamdi Abdel-Aziz, a spokesman for the petroleum ministry. National Railway Council employees called for longer contracts, prompting a pledge to extend them from their leaders. Some did not return to work Thursday, said Mostafa Qinawi, head of the Railway Council. Employees of the steel industry and the Suez Canal Port Authority also took to the streets to demand better salaries, said the state-run al-Ahram newspaper. That sparked fears that the Suez Canal -- a significant oil transport hub and major revenue source for Egypt -- would shut down and send oil prices skyrocketing. Egypt's finance minister said the nation will "do its utmost best" to ensure the canal remains open. "All precautions are taken to prevent any sabotage from outside to the Suez Canal," Samir Hadwan told CNN. "The Suez Canal is safe and the Egyptian Army -- I don't talk on their behalf -- but I can assure you it will do whatever is in its power to keep that open." In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest, street cleaners and administrative staff went on strike over what they say is a salary freeze. At least 1,000 engineers protested contracts and financial compensations, officials said.

Thursday's demonstrations unfolded with vigor despite escalating fears of a government crackdown. Key government officials have sought to portray an immediate departure for Mubarak as a recipe for absolute mayhem and warned of military intervention. Human Rights Watch has been deeply critical of the government's handling of the crisis. "Mubarak's speech is far from the needed break with the abusive system of the past 30 years," Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Thursday. "Cosmetic changes are not enough to meet the Egyptian people's demands for democracy and human rights." The monitoring group has documented 302 deaths since the January 25 rally that ignited Egypt's revolt. CNN's John King, Jill Dougherty, Ivan Watson and Amir Ahmed and journalist Ian Lee contributed to this report Share this on: Egypt’s President asks for new Cabinet after government resigns - timesofmalta.com Sunday, September 13, 2015, 00:01 by Reuters Egypt’s President asks for new Cabinet after government resigns Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi yesterday asked Oil Minister Sherif Ismail to form a new Cabinet within one week after the government submitted its resignation, a statement from the presidency said.

It was not immediately clear why the government resigned but officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Sisi had been unhappy with the performance of several ministries. The announcement comes almost one week after the authorities arrested Egypt’s agriculture minister over corruption allegations. Egypt is battling an insurgency headed by an affiliate of Islamic State while trying to attract more foreign investment in an economy reeling from years of turmoil that followed an uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Ismail will likely be appointed the new prime minister, replacing Ibrahim Mehleb. An engineer who held senior posts at several state-run energy firms, Ismail is seen as one of the best performing ministers. As Oil Minister, he oversaw politically sensitive reforms, slashing energy subsidies, and also paid back some arrears to foreign energy companies to improve Egypt’s image among investors. Sisi has asked the previous government to carry on in a caretaker role until a new administration is formed, the statement said. Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, is due to hold long-delayed parliamentary elections next month, the final step in a process the government has said would deliver democracy.

In his former role as army chief, Sisi toppled Egypt’s first freely-elected president, Islamist Mohamed Mursi, in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. Sisi was later elected President on promises of political stability and economic prosperity. He launched a security crackdown that put an end to large-scale political unrest in Egypt but has drawn criticism from human rights groups who accuse him of silencing the Opposition. Advert See our Comments Policy Comments are submitted under the express understanding and condition that the editor may, and is authorised to, disclose any/all of the above personal information to any person or entity requesting the information for the purposes of legal action on grounds that such person or entity is aggrieved by any comment so submitted. Please allow some time for your comment to be moderated. With peace, Egyptians overthrow a dictator With peace, Egyptians overthrow a dictator TOOLBOX Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, February 11, 2011; 10:25 PM CAIRO - It was sparked on social-networking sites, and inspired by a revolution in Tunisia.

In 18 days, it grew into something astounding - a leaderless people's movement that at every turn outsmarted a government with an almost unblemished 30-year record of suppressing dissent. On Friday, pro-democracy demonstrators achieved through peaceful and determined protests what only a month ago had seemed impossible: They forced President Hosni Mubarak from office. "Mubarak thought he was God," Ali Asam, 50, said as he stood just outside Tahrir Square, named after the Arabic word for liberation. "He killed the people, he beat the people, and we won." In the end, images of riot police and pro-government thugs attacking and killing unarmed civilians are what broke Mubarak. Rather than force people off the streets through intimidation, the violence simply galvanized more to join the revolt. The government's efforts to control the message by cutting off the Internet and phones, and by arresting scores of journalists and activists, similarly backfired. Each day, ever greater numbers of Egyptians turned out to the square to see for themselves the movement reshaping their country. "They wanted to scare us," said Al-Marwa Mostafa Fahray, 33.

Her face beamed as her two young daughters chanted with the crowd. Fahray had never been politically involved before the past 18 days. She had a comfortable life with her husband and children. But she watched the security forces detain hundreds of people and kill hundreds more. She could no longer sit back, she said. "I knew even if I had to die, or even if my kids had to die, I should come and fight with the people; you have to sacrifice to get something great," she said Friday night as impromptu dance parties broke out across the capital. Despite the government's efforts to sow violence that could be pinned on the demonstrators, the vast majority did not take the bait. In the first days of the protests, they were attacked with high-pressure water hoses, tear gas, birdshot, rubber bullets and live ammunition. Protesters responded with rocks, but also with pamphlets instructing demonstrators to appeal to the police as fellow Egyptians. When police withdrew from the streets and prisoners were released from their cells, Egyptians formed security committees to protect their neighborhoods. And when pro-Mubarak forces - many of them thought to be paid thugs and undercover police - attacked anti-government demonstrators, the protesters fought back but did not escalate the violence.

More than 300 people were killed over the past 18 days, with each death giving the movement more momentum. In Tahrir Square, posters of the dead grace every corner. A curly haired girl named Sally, a man named Hassan, a boy named Mohammed. CONTINUED 1 Egypt Unrest Egypt Unrest Morsi Backers Warn Egypt Headed Toward Civil War Agence France Presse | | Posted 12.23.2013 | World Yet Another Era Of Military Rule In Egypt China Post | | Posted 10.22.2013 | World Egypt Death Toll At Least 149 Reuters | Posted 10.14.2013 | World Witness Describes Bullets, Blood And Bulldozers In Egypt Violence Reuters | Posted 10.14.2013 | World Egypt's 'Bloodless Coup' History Weighs Heavy On Generals In Charge Reuters | Posted 10.05.2013 | World Too Dangerous To Study?

HuffingtonPost.com | Aaron Sankin | Posted 07.15.2013 | College Read More: Chile, History, Egypt Unrest, Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt, World News Stating the obvious would allow the U.S. to clearly distance itself from the military's actions. Showing that the U.S. does not support coups, even when they unseat leaders we dislike, is an essential statement to make for democracy in the region. Mubarak Trial Persists Amid Egypt Turmoil Reuters | Posted 09.05.2013 | World Egypt - The New York Times The New York Times Egypt News about Egypt, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times. More Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, claims one of the world’s oldest cultures, descending from an ancient civilization that emerged in the 10th millennium BCE. Widespread Middle East unrest in 2011 loosed grievances against the 30-year autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak , who was ousted following a dramatic period of protest that became a watershed moment in the Arab Spring.

This upheaval paved the way for the country’s first free parliamentary elections, in which the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi was elected president. Subsequent protests against Morsi’s authoritarianism led to a 2013 military coup d’etat and the election of former general Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as president in 2014. Learn more about Egypt. Scroll below to view our archive of articles and chronology of latest news.

Cairo erupts in riots amid Egypt state of emergency - World - CBC News Cairo erupts in riots amid Egypt state of emergency More than 60 killed in violence on 2-year anniversary of Hosni Mubarak's ouster The Associated Press Posted: Jan 28, 2013 4:08 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 29, 2013 5:12 PM ET Egyptians defy Morsi 2:38 Canadian travel advisories - Egypt (Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.) Riot police fired tear gas at rock-throwing protesters in central Cairo on Monday, a day after Egypt's president declared a state of emergency in three provinces hit hardest by political violence and vowed to deal "firmly and forcefully" with the unrest roiling the country. Egypt president declares state of emergency in 3 provinces The eruption of violence, which began around Friday's second anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, has plunged Egypt once again into political turmoil and exposed the deep fault lines running through the country.

More than 60 people have been killed in the unrest, which is fuelled by anger over the policies of the country's new Islamist leader and the slow pace of change. The latest death came on Monday in Cairo, where a protester died of gunshot wounds as youths hurling stones battled all day and into the night with police firing tear gas near Qasr el-Nil Bridge, a landmark over the Nile next to major hotels. In nearby Tahrir Square, protesters set fire to a police armoured personnel carrier, celebrating as it burned in scenes reminiscent of the 2011 revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak. "I will be coming back here every day until the blood of our martyrs is avenged," said 19-year-old carpenter Islam Nasser, who wore a Guy Fawkes mask as he battled police near Tahrir square. Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has declared a state of emergency in three provinces, and asked for dialogue with opposition leaders as Cairo continues to be rocked by violent protests.

(Maya Alleruzzo/Associated Press) Amid the turmoil, several foreign embassies, including Canada's, temporarily shut down due to their proximity to Tahrir Square — a flashpoint of violence and mass demonstrations in Cairo. The Canadian government's travel advisories website posted a warning shortly after midnight on Monday asking citizens in Egypt to avoid Port Said, Suez and Ismaili, and to "exercise a high degree of caution due to the unpredictable security situation and continued demonstrations throughout the country." CBC's Nahlah Ayed said from Cairo that reports are circulating that President Mohammed Morsi's cabinet has granted the army additional powers to make arrests without warrants or judicial oversight. CBC's Nahlah Ayed reports from Cairo In Cairo, the clashes have been small and contained so far, but persistent. Yet those clashes — and the way they have been dealt with — have wreaked havoc on the city’s traffic. The closure of Tahrir Square (in fact, a major traffic circle) and the Qasr el Nile Bridge, where many of the recent clashes have occurred, have led to congestion on already busy expressways. On most roads, cars inch along at a maddeningly slow pace.

Some nights protesters have cut off major roads using flares, fires, or just their presence. More disruptive was their shutting down of Cairo’s underground metro. Further, traffic police — or any police for that matter — are largely absent on the streets, with the exception of those battling the protesters at Qasr el Nile. The end result is a city on the verge of chaos, and complete gridlock. "The Egyptian cabinet has approved a law that would give the army the right to arrest people — essentially the same rights as police to, quote, 'protect property,'" Ayed said, noting that those reports are still unconfirmed, but potentially very provocative. "It just adds to the sense that this regime is turning to tactics that it said it would never do," she said. Ayed said that Egyptian TV has been repeatedly broadcasting clips of a Morsi speech from several months earlier, in which he vowed never to follow his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, by giving the army the power to make arbitrary arrests. The reports, if true, would invite unflattering comparisons between Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and the ousted Mubarak regime. "People died to gain their freedom, social justice, bread.

Now after 29 years of the despotic Mubarak, we're ruled by a worse regime: religious fascist, more dangerous," said Mohammed Saber, a 65-year old engineer who came to watch the clashes with his wife and children. The clashes intensified in Monday evening. A group of protesters, including black masked youth, flashed the V-for-victory signs as they jubilantly milled around the burning police vehicle in Tahrir. Morsi, who has struggled to address the country's daunting social and economic problems since taking power in June, declared in a televised speech late Sunday a 30-day state of emergency in the cities of Port Said, Ismailiya and Suez and their surrounding provinces in an attempt to quell the unrest. The military was deployed in Suez on Friday and in Port Said the next day. The two cities have been hit the hardest by the violence.

'Any dialogue is a waste of time unless the president acknowledges his responsibility for the bloody events, pledges to form a national salvation government and a balance commission to amend the constitution.' —Opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei Protesters in all three cities poured into the streets after Morsi's speech to reject both him and his state of emergency, which includes a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. In Port Said, where 44 people were killed in rioting over the weekend, at least 2,000 protesters chanted against the Egyptian president and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which he hails. Unrest sparked after soccer riot death sentences The unrest in Port Said was sparked by a court conviction and death sentence for 21 defendants involved in a mass soccer riot in the city's main stadium on Feb. 1, 2012, that left 74 dead. Most of those sentenced to death were local soccer fans from Port Said, deepening a sense of persecution that Port Said's residents have felt since the stadium disaster, the worst soccer violence ever in Egypt.

At least another 11, most of them in Suez, died in clashes Friday elsewhere in the country during rallies marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Mubarak nearly two years ago. Protesters used the occasion to denounce Morsi and the Brotherhood, which emerged as the country's most dominant political force after Mubarak's ouster. In his televised address, Morsi also warned that he would not hesitate to take more action to stem the violence. Angry and at times screaming and wagging his finger, the Egyptian leader also invited the nation's political forces for talks to resolve the nation's crisis, saying "a dialogue between the sons of the nation is indispensable and is the only way to shepherd Egypt to security and stability." Among those invited to Monday's talks is pro-reform leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammed ElBaradei and other leaders of the National Salvation Front, an umbrella group of opposition parties. ElBaradei urges change beyond dialogue The invitation, however, was met with little enthusiasm from the opposition leaders.

"Any dialogue is a waste of time unless the president acknowledges his responsibility for the bloody events, pledges to form a national salvation government and a balance commission to amend the constitution," ElBaradei wrote on Twitter early on Monday. Another Salvation Front leader, the leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, set conditions on his participation: "Halt the bloodletting, respect for the popular will and placing political solutions ahead of security measures are conditions for a serious dialogue." ElBaradei, Sabahi and other opposition leaders have boycotted Morsi's previous calls for dialogue, saying he did not have the political will to effect change. Salvation Front leaders are meeting later on Monday, when they are expected to decide whether to participate in the dialogue. With files from CBC's Nahlah Ayed

Question: Which Egyptian president was toppled from power due to popular unrest in 2011?
Answer: Hosni Mubarak